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He was not sorry to assure himself of Jotham's neutralising presence at the supper table, for Zeena was always "nervous" after a journey. But the hired man, though seldom loth to accept a meal not included in his wages, opened his stiff jaws to answer slowly: "I'm obliged to you, but I guess I'll go along back." Ethan looked at him in surprise. "Better come up and dry off.
This display of opulence was misleading, for though he did a fairly good business it was known that his easygoing habits and the demands of his large family frequently kept him what Starkfield called "behind." He was an old friend of Ethan's family, and his house one of the few to which Zeena occasionally went, drawn there by the fact that Mrs.
"I hope that's not so, Zeena," he said. She continued to gaze at him through the twilight with a mien of wan authority, as of one consciously singled out for a great fate. "I've got complications," she said. Ethan knew the word for one of exceptional import. Almost everybody in the neighbourhood had "troubles," frankly localized and specified; but only the chosen had "complications."
There was a moment's pause in the struggle, as though the combatants were testing their weapons. Then Zeena said in a level voice: "I thought you were to get fifty dollars from Andrew Hale for that lumber." "Andrew Hale never pays under three months."
On the floor beside her stood his old valise and a bandbox wrapped in newspapers. "Why, where are you going, Zeena?" he exclaimed.
"That trunk of yours is too heavy for the sleigh, and Dan'l Byrne'll be round to take it over to the Flats," she said. "I'm much obliged to you, Zeena," said Mattie. "I'd like to go over things with you first," Zeena continued in an unperturbed voice.
He felt as if he had never before known what his wife looked like. She drew aside without speaking, and Mattie and Ethan passed into the kitchen, which had the deadly chill of a vault after the dry cold of the night. "Guess you forgot about us, Zeena," Ethan joked, stamping the snow from his boots. "No. I just felt so mean I couldn't sleep."
Now her departure for Bettsbridge had once more eased his mind, and all his thoughts were on the prospect of his evening with Mattie. Only one thing weighed on him, and that was his having told Zeena that he was to receive cash for the lumber. He foresaw so clearly the consequences of this imprudence that with considerable reluctance he decided to ask Andrew Hale for a small advance on his load.
They're in a place you don't know about," Zeena answered darkly, with one of her secret looks. She went out of the kitchen and Mattie, rising, began to clear the dishes from the table. As she passed Ethan's chair their eyes met and clung together desolately. The warm still kitchen looked as peaceful as the night before.
As soon as the words were spoken he regretted them, not only because they were untrue there being no prospect of his receiving cash payment from Hale but also because he knew from experience the imprudence of letting Zeena think he was in funds on the eve of one of her therapeutic excursions.
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